Lu Yan recalled: “I went to the school two years ago, but according to the staff, the choir list had long been lost.”

Jiang Chengyi listened while making a phone call.

The person on the other end seemed busy. After waiting a while with no answer, Jiang Chengyi had to toss his phone back onto the center console and asked her: “Do you remember who was in the choir back then?”

Lu Yan looked at Jiang Chengyi without responding.

How could she remember? After getting together with him, her world had shrunk to just two parts: 1. Studying; 2. Jiang Chengyi.

Looking back now, except for the cheerleading squad and math and physics Olympics teams she’d joined in her first year, she hadn’t paid much attention to any school groups formed later.

Tang Jie had said several times that she prioritized romance over friendship, and wasn’t wrong at all.

She only remembered Ding Jing was the choir’s lead singer because Ding Jing’s voice was so distinctive, but she had no recollection of who else was in it.

“What about you?” she asked Jiang Chengyi. “Do you remember who was in the choir?”

Jiang Chengyi choked, clearly having paid as little attention to other matters back then as Lu Yan had.

They were equally guilty, neither could criticize the other.

Lu Yan’s gaze drifted back to the window.

Senior year was already busy with coursework, and Jiang Chengyi still had basketball practice outside of class, yet he always managed to find time to see her.

Lu Yan’s mother was very strict with her then. Unless there were school activities, she could only spend half an hour with him before having to rush home.

Perhaps because of this, every date felt especially precious and sweet.

When they first got together, Jiang Chengyi was quite proper, at most holding her hand and talking in public, only kissing and hugging her in private, but always within acceptable bounds. He was also never stingy about buying her snacks and gifts.

She knew his family was well-off. She’d heard that when his grandfather was still alive, he had transferred some shares to Jiang Chengyi’s name and left instructions for Jiang Chengyi’s father to manage them—meaning Jiang Chengyi had income in his name even before coming of age.

Even so, at the start of their relationship, out of a young girl’s pride and dignity, she still refused to accept Jiang Chengyi’s gifts.

But she couldn’t resist his reasoning: “I’ve seen how my dad wins over my mom this way. You’re my girlfriend—why can’t I buy you gifts?”

Although Jiang Chengyi rarely mentioned his family situation, when he did occasionally mention it in passing, you could always tell his parents were very much in love.

She secretly envied that.

The key thing was that Jiang Chengyi had good taste—every gift he chose suited her perfectly.

As their feelings grew deeper, she gradually let go of her reserve.

Unexpectedly, as time went on, Jiang Chengyi’s wolf-like nature finally emerged.

Once, in the second semester of senior year, Jiang Chengyi caught a cold after drinking too much cold soda following a game. But with the finals approaching, as team captain, the coach still had him come to the gym every day for training.

Learning of this, Lu Yan put cold medicine and an antiviral oral solution in her backpack and went to find him.

When she arrived, she quietly looked toward the court and saw Jiang Chengyi sitting on the bench at the edge of the basketball court, watching other team members practice.

His head was leaning against the wall behind him, looking somewhat languid, his complexion not great, but he was still forcing himself to stay energetic, chatting intermittently with the coach beside him.

She had just sat down when he spotted her.

After training ended at noon, he draped his team uniform over his shoulder, said a few words to the others, and made an excuse to stay behind.

After the other team members had left, he and she walked one after the other to the empty restroom, as usual.

“Why did you come?” After entering, he asked while closing the door, maintaining about a meter’s distance from her.

Lu Yan put down her backpack and unzipped it. He hadn’t sought her out for several days, and although she could vaguely guess why, seeing him now still made her a bit unhappy. She silently took out the medicine and handed it to him: “For you.”

Jiang Chengyi was stunned.

After he took it, Lu Yan added: “This is what my mom always gives me when I have a cold. It works fast.”

Jiang Chengyi smiled but still wouldn’t come closer, saying: “Alright, I’ll take it now.”

After taking the medicine, he finally noticed her unhappiness.

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Yan stared at him.

They hadn’t seen each other for several days, and not only did he show no signs of affection, but the distance between them was as far as strangers.

She was very angry.

Fine, if he wouldn’t come to her, she’d go to him.

She walked up to him and asked: “Why haven’t you come to see me these past few days?”

He kept backing away while smiling and explaining: “I’ve been too busy, and I caught a cold, remember? I’ll come find you when I’m better.”

What kind of excuse was that?

Seeing he’d already backed up to the lockers, she had to stop, looking up at him angrily: “So you can’t come see me just because you have a cold?”

He leaned his head back against the locker door, trying to maintain distance from her, looking down at her with a smile: “We can’t. Mid-terms are coming up soon—I’m afraid I’ll infect you.”

“Just talking can infect me?”

Seeing she was genuinely angry, he started being mischievous, teasing her in a low voice: “I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist doing other things.”

His voice had the distinctive nasal quality of someone with a cold, sounding quite different from usual.

As if someone had blown a warm breath behind her ear, Lu Yan’s face unexpectedly reddened.

He was still smiling, his voice low and magnetic, like it had hooks in it: “So, are you afraid or not?”

She pretended to glare at him angrily, and as he was speaking, suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him once, and looked into his eyes: “You tell me—am I afraid or not?”

She deliberately mimicked his tone.

For some reason, after saying this, she suddenly felt shy and wanted to run away after letting go of him.

But as soon as she turned around, he pulled her into his arms.

His mouth still carried a faint medicinal fragrance, and as if making up for all the missed days at once, he kissed her deeper and more urgently than ever before. After a while, his breathing grew increasingly heavy, one hand circling her waist while the other slipped under the hem of her clothes, unexpectedly grasping that particular spot.

This move came without warning, and Lu Yan felt a tingling numbness like an electric shock. When she realized what had happened, she quickly bit him.

Taking advantage of his painful release, she pushed him away and ran toward the door, cursing: “Ah, you big jerk!”

He pulled her back with one hand, panting: “Don’t run.”

She was more flustered than embarrassed, glaring at him “fiercely”: “You, you, you—are you going to do that again?”

Jiang Chengyi had finally caught his breath and coaxed her: “I won’t do that anymore. I’m a jerk, don’t be angry.”

After finally calming Lu Yan down, they sat on the bench to rest. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the locker, as if savoring something, drinking water while softly saying a few words.

Lu Yan had sharp ears and immediately glanced at him sideways, but he had spoken too quietly to make out what he’d said.

Afterward, she asked him several times, but he always denied it: “Ah, I didn’t say anything.”

The next day, Lu Yan indeed caught a cold.

Jiang Chengyi had anticipated this and when they parted yesterday, had bought her a bunch of Banlangen and antiviral oral solutions, worried her illness would come on as suddenly as he had.

After taking the medicine and blowing her nose, Lu Yan remembered yesterday’s events and couldn’t help tilting her head, imitating Jiang Chengyi’s lip movements from yesterday, pondering over and over.

After several attempts, she realized what he had said: “Developed nicely.”

To think there was such a person—she didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry, putting down her pen in a huff.

She had thought this was already quite outrageous, but by the summer after the college entrance exam, Lu Yan learned that in certain moments, Jiang Chengyi was capable of saying things a thousand times more outrageous than this.

A ringtone interrupted her memories.

It was Jiang Chengyi’s phone.

She turned to look at him. He seemed to have been waiting for this call and answered immediately when it rang.

After exchanging a few words, Jiang Chengyi said: “Understood.”

He pulled the car away from its spot and drove forward.

“Where are we going?” she asked, confused. “Are we going to the school to look for the choir list, or to find the eyewitness you mentioned earlier?”

Jiang Chengyi was sparing with his words: “The eyewitness.”

Lu Yan was very surprised: “There’s an eyewitness?”

Jiang Chengyi seemed very reluctant to elaborate: “Aren’t you one? The person you ran into in the alley that night could very well be the killer.”

Lu Yan was puzzled: “Besides me and Ding Jing, has someone else encountered the killer?”

“Not certain,” it seemed to be a rather remote place as Jiang Chengyi opened the navigation. “Should be an old man. I just had colleagues verify his phone number with the radio station. We’re going to his registered address to see if he can provide any valuable information.”

“Old man?”

Jiang Chengyi glanced at her: “Like you, this old man claims to have seen someone who should have been dead long ago, and called the radio station about it. He’s rather superstitious and firmly believes he saw a ghost. I suspect he might have unknowingly encountered the killer.”

After processing this information and reviewing several events in her mind, Lu Yan gradually felt the previously complex web starting to show signs of clarity through the fog.

After thinking for quite a while, she belatedly looked up at the road ahead. It was nearly noon, and Jiang Chengyi showed no signs of planning to take her home. She wanted to ask but forcefully held back, only glancing at his profile. During her two weeks of rest at home, he wouldn’t take her around investigating cases, would he?

Just as she was thinking this, her phone rang.

It was Tang Jie.

“Where are you?” Tang Jie asked. “At work?”

Lu Yan: “No, I took some time off.”

Tang Jie seemed relieved: “Taking time off is good—it’s safer at home than at work. Are you with Jiang Chengyi?”

Lu Yan was vague: “Mm, we’re out.”

Tang Jie: “There’s something I need to tell you. Do you know how Deng Man’s mom asked us to come to get some things a few days ago? She and Uncle Deng are rushing to move to their new home, and she’s asking if we can come get them tomorrow. If not, she’s thinking of giving them to us when she visits Deng Man’s grave on Winter Solstice, her birthday.”

Lu Yan glanced at Jiang Chengyi, hesitated for a moment, then said: “Okay, I’ll go get them tomorrow.”

Tang Jie said: “Alright then, let’s meet on Songshan Road tomorrow.”